January Auto Sales: GM Celebrates a Sweet 16 Percent Sales Increase

2013 Cadillac ATS Helps Lux Brand Grow Volume 47 Percent

Positive demand for all-new models combined with high interest in some traditional favorites to deliver a 16 percent improvement in January sales for General Motors—which sold 164,699 vehicles last month. All four brands also were in the black, with Cadillac out in front with a 47 percent sales gain, followed by Buick (+32 percent), GMC (+23 percent) and Chevrolet (+11 percent).

More importantly, the General enjoyed particularly strong results on the retail side of the business: Overall, GM’s retail sales jumped up by 24 percent, and the company called out Cadillac for achieving its highest January retail volume in 23 years; capturing the North American Car of the Year Award with the 2013 Cadillac ATS no doubt helped here. Then, as a bonus, solid growth for its full-size pickups led GM to note that its inventories for the 2013 Chevy Silverado and 2013 GMC Sierra “are in-line with the company’s sales and production plans for 2013.”

Added Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations for the automaker: “The year is off to a very good start for General Motors. There’s a sense of optimism among our dealers that only comes when you pair a growing economy with great new products. We started to see the benefits in 2012 with vehicles like the Chevrolet Sonic, Cadillac ATS and Buick Verano. Now in 2013, we’re entering the sweet spot of our product plan in a growing economy.”

January Auto Sales: GM Celebrates a Sweet 16 Percent Sales Increase

2013 Cadillac ATS Helps Lux Brand Grow Volume 47 Percent

January Auto Sales: GM’s New Products Make the Difference

Those who care to delve into GM’s sales numbers in any detail will note a fair amount of red ink, with those losses being made up for by all-new products in their first full January at dealerships—which means, obviously, that their 2012 numbers (if available) can’t really be used for any meaningful comparisons.

2013 Buick Enclave—Refreshed styling and new technologies reinvigorated Enclave sales in January, when the big beautiful crossover sold 4,895 units and expanded volume by 56.7 percent.

2013 Chevy Equinox—The Equinox continued to do more than just hold its own in the hyper-competitive small crossover segments: It captured an additional 17,223 sales last month to achieve a 26.1 percent advance in volume.

2013 Chevy Silverado—Even as buzz begins building for the all-new 2014 Silverado that launches this summer, sales continue to build for the current model. The brand’s full-size pickup earned 35,445 sales last month and grew deliveries by 32 percent.

2013 Chevy Sonic—After becoming one of the leading choices in the subcompact segment last year, the Sonic has picked up where it left off in 2013 by selling 7,177 units in January, up 25.6 percent. (FYI: The Sonic outsold its Ford rival by more than 2,700 units last month.)

2013 Chevy Volt—The revolutionary Volt delivered an 89.1 percent jump in sales in January, on the strength of 1,140 deliveries.

2013 GMC Sierra—Like its Silverado sibling, the Sierra will welcome an all-new model to dealerships later in the year year; and also like the Silverado, the Sierra saw sales jump by more than 30 percent—35 percent, to be exact—courtesy of 12,846 sales.

2013 GMC Terrain—An increasingly popular choice among smaller premium crossovers, the Terrain benefited from a 51.4 percent leap in sales in January, when it delivered 8,550 units.